BACKGROUNDUnited Nations
countries belong to an organization called
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). This organization releases a report every six years. Often
referred to as the "climate bible," it is relied on by governments around the world.

The 2007 report is divided into three smaller reports - written by Working
Group 1, 2 and 3 - and contains 44 chapters in
total. The chairman of the IPCC has
repeatedly claimed
that the report relies solely on peer-reviewed
literature to support its findings. This is not the
case.

OUR METHODOLOGY
A team of 43
volunteers from 12 countries examined the list of references at the end of each
chapter. We sorted these references into two groups - articles published in
peer-reviewed academic journals and other references. Not every reference is adequately
documented, and classifying some as peer-reviewed or gray literature involves a measure of
discretion.
Our
How-To Guide advised auditors to: "Give the
IPCC the benefit of the doubt."

Each chapter was examined by three citizen auditors working
independently of each other (often on different continents). On those occasions
in which the auditors arrived at slightly
different results, the span between the highest and lowest result does not
exceed five percent. We used the result most favorable to the IPCC in
determining our findings.
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